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It’s time, finally, to announce the Grand Champion of the Fabulous Movie Madness Tournament of Champions. I know that voting in the Championship Poll has been closed for several days, and I really should have announced the winner quite some time ago. Instead, I got my transmission replaced and drove to Texas in the middle of the night! And then the Scarborough Renaissance Festival opened, a friend came to visit me, we went to see Jurassic Park (which was just as awesome as it was 20 years ago), and also I was very sleepy and had to consume a lot of quiche. So basically, my bad, and I will announce the winner right now…

…first, though, allow me to say a quick word of thanks for all your votes and attention. A little over a month ago, when we began this little tournament, I had no idea it would be so much fun, or that I would swear so much while I was running it, but it was and I did, and I regret nothing. I couldn’t have done it without you.

If you’ll recall, the Championship Poll found us choosing between The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Moulin Rouge! A tough contest to be sure, but as far as I’m concerned, almost all of these matchups have been tough. There can be only one winner, and that winner is…

with 69.57% of the vote…

The Lord of the Rings

Congratulations, y’all!

I think it’s appropriate that a series such enormous care and attention to detail has come out on top of a tournament I basically slapped together. Wait, that wasn’t what I meant to say! What I meant to say was, I think it’s appropriate that a series with such enormous care and attention to detail has come out on top. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I were to say that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a cinematic masterpiece as well as the defining film event of my generation. I will never forget the first time I saw it in the theatre. I was 17. It was the last day of high school before Christmas break, and my new boyfriend, who was a big fan of the books, took me to see it for our first real date. I don’t remember much of the date, or the rest of our short relationship, but I will never forget how my heart soared the first time the camera zoomed down down down into the pits of Isengard (at this point I dropped my date’s hand and leaned forward in my chai to better absorb what I was seeing), or how it shattered into a thousand pieces as Aragorn strapped on Boromir’s gauntlets as his funeral boat glides down the Falls of Rauros. The next year, as a freshman in college, I met a group of girls who were also in love with the movie. We all gathered in my tiny dorm room to watch it on the tiny monitor of my brand new computer, and became best friends, calling ourselves the Brenau Fellowship. Eleven years later, they’re still among my best friends. The life-sized cardboard cutout of Legolas I got for my 18th birthday has been with me ever since. Watching the films with my most recent boyfriend, who was a big fan before we even met, became a ritual that deepened our affection for each other and continued after we married. To this day, when I’m in a hard place, I revisit the films or the books. The Lord of the Rings won dozens of awards, did a lot to legitimize fantasy as a movie genre, spawned a thousand copycats, made a jillion dollars, and basically changed cinematic history, but more importantly as far as I’m concerned, it changed my life.

When last we met, we were voting in the semi-finals. All that is over now.The Lord of the Rings beheaded Marie Antoinette, taking 66.67% of the vote, and Moulin Rouge has sunk Titanic with 70.59% of the vote.

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Oh my gosh. We’re nearing the end of the Fabulous Costume Movie Madness Tournament of Champions, people. This is the semi-finals, the regional championships, the penultimate vote, the almost-end-of-the-tournament! Four competitors are left in two polls that will determine which two entries compete for the title of Most Faublousest Costume Movie Of All Time*. What film is going to win? I DON’T KNOW AND IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY.

In the interest of upping the suspense of which Mr. Wonka and I are so fond, from now on all the poll results will be hidden until the polls close. So, without further ado, let’s see who won and get to voting!

Polls close Thursday, March 28th, at midnight.

Odd Number Region

The Award-Heavy Tearjerking Historical Drama Division’s champion, Titanic, handily defeated the Dark Horse Division’s surprise champion, Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance, carrying 71.43% of the vote . That brings it into competition with Moulin Rouge!, from the Glitter Division!, which defeated Ye Ren Faire Divisione Champione Elizabeth R by a slightly lesser margin of 63.64% . Now the two blockbusters face off against each other. One was the most expensive movie ever at the time of its release; the other had Ewan McGregor singing “Your Song.” Cinematic history has a place for both of them, but our tournament does not.

Proving the truth of its name, the champion of the Pirates and Panniers Are An Unfair Advantage Division, Marie Antoinette, swept aside the Jane Austen Division winner, Pride and Prejudice, with a clean 75% of the vote. Apparently Mr. Darcy’s 10,000 a year can’t buy him votes. Marie Antoinette will go head-to-head (…hah!) against the fiercely competitive Lord of the Rings trilogy, which won the Fantasy division as handily as it collected 58.33% over Bright Star of the She Makes Her Own Clothes Division. Sorry, ladies. Better luck next time.

Announcing your Division Champions! The results are getting tighter as the competition really heats up (with some exceptions. Sorry, Labyrinth) and I admit to being at a total loss as to what movie will come out on top. I’m stoked to find out, though.

A quick word on our tiebreaker: the tie-breaking poll ended in a tie, because you all like to see me twitch. But! I realized I had neglected to close the original poll, wherein Razzle Dazzle had just barely edged out 3:10 to Yuma, and will therefore advance to the next round. Sorry, Christian Bale. You’re still my imaginary boyfriend.

Also known as the Division Finals, this is the last round of intra-division voting. Had I filled out a bracket for betting purposes, I would have lost a jillion dollars by this point, so I’m glad I didn’t. Without further ado, the polls!

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The results are in! The response to the first round of voting was great, the competition was fierce, the post was long. The results have been tabulated (by computers, not by me), and I’m half ecstatic, half despondent, half flabbergasted to announce the winners of the first round!

I admit to being completely floored by some of the results (Labyrinth over Priscilla? Really?), but let it never be said I didn’t accept the results with some measure of grace. Winning entries will go on to the Sweet Sixteen in the next post. Losers will go off to cry alone, or in some cases to polish their Oscars with their tears. And I, for the most part, will refrain from waxing dramatic about those match-ups where democracy failed to live up to my expectations.

Thank you to everybody who voted! Look for the next round to go up soon!

RESCU
A non-profit organization established to promote and maintain the health and medical well-being of the participants of Renaissance Faires, historical performances and other artistic events through financial assistance, advocacy, education and preventative